. >> david, there's a debate emerging now on whether paul ryan, the vice presidential nominee, has actually helped romney's efforts to win the white house or wound up hurting romney's efforts to win the white house. where do you see it? >> well, i've been a big alarmist on the ryan question from the beginning. i thought it was a mistake to choose him. i thought it was a mistake even before choosing him to bolt this campaign to the ryan plan. the romney campaign needs to be about jobs and growth. the decision to make this campaign about medicare and medicaid which is what you do when you adopt the ryan plan much less put ryan on the ticket is a big mistake. i think the campaign is really suffering for it. >> you think democrats down ballot as they say, senatorial candidates, congressional candidates, are happy, donna, that paul ryan is on the ticket with romney? >> absolutely. he gives definition to what the republicans actually stand for. i mean, basically they want to, you know, create another system for medicare. and as president obama and the vice president today spoke out also about soc